How to Play
Rules 1.0 Object You are the true power behind one of the largest empires in your time. The people hang on your every word. The army heeds your every whim. You control the Generals and the Empire in this epic tradable and collectable card game. Take control of the barbarian horde and conquer the existing world, or become the shining beacon of hope and civilization for the glory of the people. The object of Empires and Generals is to become the greatest and most powerful Empire. You can do this by gaining Cultural Health or by causing others to lose theirs until the desired level is reached. In a normal game if you gain five Cultural Health or force your opponants to lose five Cultural Health, you will achieve victory. Game Preparation First off, print off the cards! Each card is formatted to fit onto a 3x5 index card, but you can stretch and fit each .jpg if you want to use "Playing Card" size or 5x7 index cards. You will find that each deck has it's own unique playing styles, just like each real life empire. Chose one and start building yours. Anywhere from 2-20 Players can play but 2-6 is recommended. Separate all Resource Cards from Playing Cards. The Resource Cards make up The Supply Pile. Shuffle it and place to your left. Shuffle the remaining Playing Cards and place next to the supply pile. This is your Playing Deck. Have the player to the left of you cut each deck. You will have an assortment of Non-Playing Reference Cards that will help you during game play. The most important one is the Cultural Health Card. The Cultural Health Card is placed to your left with a card on top of it (often Attack Resolution or Game Phase Chart) to keep track of your points. Place the top or bottom edge of the card on the starting middle line to determine your beginning number at 0 (Zero) Cultural Health. Make sure there is ample room in front of you and to each side. Keeping snacks on the playing table is discouraged. Keep it fun. The Two Decks Playing Cards Deck -''' Minimum number of Playing Cards: 25 Maximum number of Playing Cards: None 'Resource (or Supply) Deck -' Minimum number of Resource Cards: 10 Maximum number of Resource Cards: None A balanced deck may include: 6 Non-Playing Cards: Title Card Instructions Game Phase Chart Play Map Attack Resolution Card Cultural Health Chart 29 Empire Specific Cards: 5 General Playing Cards 9 Soldier Playing Cards 5 Kingdom Playing Cards 5 Strategy Playing Cards 5 Tactics Playing Cards 18 Specialty Resource Cards In both decks, no more than: Common: Five of the same Uncommon: Three of the same Rare: One of the same Ultra Rare: Only one total in either of your decks*. *When an Ultra Rare card comes into play during a game, that card (by exact reference number match) may not be played during the remainder of the game by anyone. Determine Game Type Use the"Empires and Generals" Playing Cards and Resource Cards. You may use any of the decks within the given limits of the Era you are playing in. (The Family Edition shown on the site is all in the "Classical" Era. I have combined the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age together for ease of play.) Choose the Game Points you wish to play. '''Quick: Achieve Three points to win the game against all opponents Lose Three points to lose against all opponents Normal: Achieve Five points to win the game against all opponents Lose Five points to lose against all opponents Epic: Achieve Eight points to win the game against all opponents Lose Eight points to lose against all opponents Slaugherhouse Version: Start all Cultural Health Cards at the top line of the Game Play Line. You may not win by gaining Health but must win by defeating all of your opponents. You may play Slaughterhouse version with any of the three Game Types. Card Mechanics Shuffle your cards Let the person on the left cut Draw seven cards Someone must go first. this is randomly decided. If no decision can be made, flip a coin, or use the rock, paper, scissors technique. Turn Declaration Player declares whether they will Play (take a turn) or Pass (not take a turn). If player draws a card, it is assumed that they have begun their turn and not passed. You cannot Pass if you draw a card. Player may not Pass twice in a row. If player Passes a turn, no part of any phase may be accomplished. You may not split or pick any part of the turn and then pass. If Player Plays move to 4 If Player Passes move to 5 Taking a Turn Draw Phase Draw one card, including on your first turn, unless otherwise stated on cards. Harvest Phase 1) Play any resource cards that you may have, placing them in the Resource Area. 2) EFFECT - When a resource sits in your Supply Line it acts as a continuous resource that you may harvest every Harvest Phase. The Effect may read: "Gain one stone". This is what you are adding to your "cash pool" every turn. If your total for that Harvest Phase is 8 Stone, 3 Water, having a total of 11, then you may spend those resources that turn. You may spend the common 11 points or selected points that are equal or less than 8 Stone and 3 Water. 3) ABILITY - During your Harvest Phase you may also choose to use the ability associated with the Resource Card. Usually this causes you to discard the card to gain more resources. If you have Liaoning Mine that has a continuous harvest of 1 Stone and need to discard it for the extra Stone that turn, then you gain 3 Stone for that card on that Harvest Phase. The card that has the ability used is discarded that Harvest Phase. Kingdom Phase 1) Play any Kingdom and Strategy Cards available 2) Follow any and all effects printed therein (unless otherwise noted) Army Phase There are two types of cards that you may play during the Army Phase. Generals and Soldiers. Soldiers - 1) Play any Soldier card into Warcamp. Soldiers cannot be played directly into the Battlefield from your hand due to the fatigue from traveling from your hand to the field of play, This is called "Pull". 2) You may use newly played Soldiers Effects at this time. 3) If you have enough resources, you may also use any of the Soldiers Abilities at this time. 4) You may Discard any Soldiers at this time. Generals - 1) Play any General card into either Warcamp or Battlefield area. Generals do not suffer Pull, unless noted. 2) You may use newly played Generals Effects at this time. 3) If you have enough resources, you may also use any of the Generals Abilities at this time. 4) If needed, you may Discard a General at this time to play another General. Attack Phase 1) You must have a General to place a unit in Battlefield. 2) Move any Soldier or General cards to or from the Warcamp to the Battlefield. 3) Attack using any available Soldier cards or General Cards. You may attack with one card (or group of cards - ban, equip or otherwise) per turn. 4) Push the attacking card forward one inch to show the attack. State your attack. 5) Unless stated otherwise, Defender may choose who blocks the attack. Defender player pushes forward defending unit. You may not attack on your first turn. Resolve Phase 1) Finish any effects that are noted on cards. 2) Remove or add Counters if applicable. 3) Discard hand to down to seven cards unless stated otherwise. Rotation Rotation moves clockwise. Endgame Your Victory is accomplished when: A) Warlord Victory: Your opponents have run out of Cultural Health (CH) B) Sissy Victory: Your opponents forfeit or resign C) Chancellor Victory: You achieve the proper amount of CH to acheive a victory based upon type of game decided. Once a winner is declared, the game is ended.* *D) Epic Campaigner Victory: It has been known, on occasion, that when a Chancellor Victory is achieved, other players will continue play to try to achieve a secondary Warlord Victory. The Epic Campaigner Victory results in determining the second place. They realized that they have lost the primary victory, yet are determined to paint the field red with the blood of their enemies. Understand the Numbers Both cards use "Strength" vs. "Life". You Attack with the number of your strength and defend with the number of your life. When being attacked, You counter-attack/block with your strength as well. The "Attacker" is the one initiating the battle. The "Defender" is the one who is being attacked. The number on the left is Strength, the number on the right is Life. Defender always wins the tie. For Example - If each card is a 5/6 then neither card wins. A strength of 5 cannot beat a life of 6. If the attacker has a 7/8 Chariot and the defender has a 5/6 Lancer: The Lancer does not kill the Chariot (5 vs 8) and the Chariot kills the Lancer (7 vs 6). Lancer is discarded, Chariot falls back to spot in battlefield. Battle Outcome - There are fourteen possible outcomes in any battle: (Please see Attack Resolution Card for a quicker breakdown of this list) Opponents Attacker Vs. Opponents Warcamp 1) No Blocker Presented: Lose One Cultural Health (-1 CH) 2) Defender Withdrawl, Removal, Dodge, etc: Defender is taken away from the attack. -1 CH 3) Successful Attack: Attacker kills Defender but Defender does NOT kill attacker - Discard Defender. -1 CH 4) Double Death: Attacker kills Defender AND Defender kills attacker - Discard Attacker and Defender. No Cultural Health Lost 5) Counter Attack: Attacker does NOT kill Defender and Defender kills Attacker - Discard Attacker, No Cultural Health Lost 6) Attacker Withdrawl, Removal, Dodge, etc: Defender is taken away from the attack - No Cultural Health Lost 7) Double Block: Attacker does NOT kill Defender and Defender does NOT kill Attacker - No Cultural Health Lost Owners Attacker Vs. Opponents Battlefield Rule of thumb: It is typically not possible to take away Cultural Health if a Battle is in the Battlefield. 1) No Blocker Presented - Redirect to Warcamp 2) Defender Withdrawl, Removal, Dodge, etc - Redirect to Warcamp 3) Successful Attack (Attacker kills Defender but Defender does NOT kill attacker) - Discard Defender. 4) Double Death (Attacker kills Defender AND Defender kills attacker) - Discard Attacker and Defender. 5) Counter Attack (Attacker does NOT kill Defender and Defender kills Attacker) - Discard Attacker. 6) Attacker Withdrawl, Removal, Dodge, etc - Defender is taken away from the attack. 7) Double Block (Attacker does NOT kill Defender and Defender does NOT kill Attacker) - Both units remain in battlefield. Distributing Point Damage and Attack Detail A) All transferred points are transfered to the opponents total Cultural Health. The opponent subtracts the ammount transferred from his Cultural Health B) CH is the total number of life that you have before you are defeated as a player. If you reach zero CH, you lose the game regardless of the any battles outcome.